New Moon Rising
by ScarletWaterBender
Summary: When Yue becomes the Moon Spirit, she doesn't know what to make of it- or Agni, the charmingly cynical Spirit of The Sun.


**Okay This Little Bit Is About Yue And Agni. Now Because Agni Isn't Mentioned As Often As Yue Is In The Show, He Is The Deity Of The Fire-Benders; A.K.A The Sun Spirit. Hope That Clears Things Up!**

"Sokka," Yue sobbed. He had just been here, so close, but now he was gone, or maybe_ she_ was gone.

Yue was aware that she was on her knees, her arm still held out to touch Sokka, but he was gone. She sobbed again, and a tear dripped down her cheek. Her arm drooped.

"Hey!"

The unfamiliar voice made Yue look up, startled. She saw nothing but the knee-level silver mist and the periwinkle sky. She whipped around; A bright light was pulsing behind her, coming closer every second. She cowered.

"Oh, hey, wait, don't do that!" The light dimmed, and a young man stepped forward, arms outstretched, looking panicked. "Sorry, I, uh, didn't mean to scare you like that."

Yue leaned away, unsure of him. "Where am I?" she asked.

The boy's eyes widened. "You mean you honestly don't _know_?"

Yue shook her head.

The boy started laughing. "Oh, this is rich. You mean to tell me you're the new moon spirit and _you don't know where you are_?"

Yue bristled. "Well forgive me if one minute I'm the princess of a peaceful tribe and the next minute a man takes a fish from the spirit spring and the moon disappears! And then I somehow start fading into mist! So I'm sorry that just because I'm the new moon spirit doesn't make me understand where I am!" She paused. "Who are you, anyway?"

The boy beamed, and the light returned to nearly full brightness. "I am Agni, spirit of the sun." He struck a pose, fists on hips, chest out. "Your welcoming committee, as it were."

Yue stood, backing away. "So it's your fault."

The glow cut off abruptly. "My fault for what?"

"The war," Yue said, "The one that's been going on for a century. The one your _servants_ started." Yue's voice was eerily calm.

Agni's gaze became intense, and his yellow-white hair gleamed sharply. He pointed a finger at Yue, a warning. "Now you listen to me, little girl. _I_ am not responsible for this war. While those barbaric fire-benders claim to serve me, they are not my _servants_. Get it? They dowhat they want to, and I have no control over wheter or not they do it in my name." He brushed the ends of his unruly hair out of his eyes.

Yue blinked. "Then why don't you just... give up? Become a mortal. Go and kill yourself."

Agni laughed bitterly. "And what? End up like La? Replaced by a young mortal with no bending experience at all?" Yue fumed, but he pressed on. "And what if my _replacement_ has a nature that demands brutality? What then? Leave so many in the care of this-this idiot?"

Yue looked away. "La knew what she was doing. She chose me at birth. She must have known something like this would happen."

Agni laughed again. "Oh, I'm sure," he said, "I'm sure she knew that you would grow up to succeed her without and ounce of bending experience, no training, and very little common sense!" He laughed again.

Yue bristled again. He was wrong. She had "bending experience"! She just used it for healing, not for battle!

Until now.

She bent a large ball of water out of the mist at their feet and threw it at his feet.

Agni stopped laughing and blinked. It was so quiet that Yue could hear the water drops fall from his hair and onto his shoulder. A moment later, however, it all turned to steam, and Agni was once again very dry.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You're acting like a petulant hog-monkey!" She turned and started to storm off, even though she had no idea where she was going or what she was supposed to be doing.

"Wait!" Yue heard footsteps come quickly behind her, but she kept walking.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to upset you like that. I'm just an obstinate moron who doesn't know when to shut his mouth." He was beside her, now in front of her. His hands were clasped together, pleading, and he was walking backward, half-crouching, as if he would be kneeling at her feet if she hadn't been moving. "Please? Come back. I need you to stay."

"No." Yue hardened her gaze and continued walking.

"Please!" Agni's hand reached out almost reflexively to grab her wrist, but he snatched it back, looking horrified.

Yue stopped walking and glared at him. "What's wrong? Afraid that I'll give you some infectious _mortal_ disease if you touch me?"

Agni shook his head, staring numbly at his hand. "No," he said, "I'm horrified at _myself_."

Yue blinked. "I'm lost," she said, still trying to be angry but curiosity getting the better of her.

Agni turned away, hanging his head. "Every mortal that I touch bursts into flames on contact with my skin. I just didn't to kill you on accident."

Yue blinked again. "But I'm the moon spirit now. I'm as immortal as you are."

Agni shook his head. "No," he said, "you aren't. Not yet. Not until the moon completes a full cycle."

"But... I _am _the moon. Aren't I?"

Agni laughed. "Are you a big ball of stone hurtling through outer space in the atmosphere above the planet? No. You arethe moon _spirit_. Not the moon itself."

Yue's eyebrows furrowed "Then what am I, if not the moon?" She looked up at him. Agni's eyes were sad, and filled with something like... longing?

"You are the spirit that gives the moon it's light," Agni said, "Just as I am the spirit that gives the sun its fire." He flinched slightly.

Yue bit her lip. "But... Why does the moon's light wax and wane?"

Agni grinned. "You have to sleep sometime, right?"

Yue paused. "So... I only have to sleep once a month?"

Agni's grin got bigger, and he stretched his arms above his head. "Yeah. Lucky you. I have to sleep every night." He yawned. "The only reason I'm awake is because the sun's about to rise."

Yue gasped. "Sunrise!" She dashed back to the place she had appeared, looking frantically around.

"What are you doing?" Agni cried, coming up behind her.

"I need to get back! My tribe needs me! When sunrise comes, the Fire Nation will attack!" She frantically waved her arms through the mist, but to no avail. She seemed to have forgotten her bending abilities for the moment.

"Stop! You can't go back!" Ani was beside her now, pleading.

"I have to!" She fell to her knees, feeling around in the mist.

"Wait! You can't go back, but I know a way that will help you see!"

Yue looked up, tears on her cheeks. "How?"

"Stand back." He wasn't satisfied until she was ten feet away.

Agni placed his hands side by side, palms out, arms extended, pointed to the floor. He took a deep breath, holding it in his chest, and twitched his fingers back. That was all he did.

A three-foot-thick jetstream of fire exploded from his palms, so hot that Yue could feel it from where she stood. It burned away a giant patch of the mist, licking against the floor.

Agni exhaled. The fire stopped, and he lowered his arms. "Look," he said, pointing to the floor.

Yue knelt in the middle of the circle. Instead of being charred, the ground was as clear as glass. Looking through, she could see a familiar landscape...

"The spirit oasis!" she cried. The image was rather small, but she found that by focusing on a particular part of the picture, it instantly grew to life size.

Yue watched in silent horror as her new friend Katara battled with a fire-bender in a white bodysuit.

"Katara!" she cried.

"Zuko," Agni whispered, "Why didn't I expect it?" Yue hadn't heard him come to kneel beside her.

"Zuko?" Yue turned to look at Agni.

"Crown prince of the Fire Nation. I've kept an eye on him ever since he was banished."

"Banished?"

"He was disobedient. The only way he can come home is to capture the Avatar." He looked closer at the picture. "And judging by the gloing boy by the pool, I'd say he's close."

"Stop him, Katara," Yue whispered.

"I'm sure she will," Agni said as the mortal girl froze the boy in a block of ice. "He's absolutely besotted with her."

"What? Don't be absurd."

"I'm not. See how his hands and his face are not obscured in the ice? That means he can fire-bend his way out. He's letting her win."

Yue's eyes widened. "Oh my spirits..." she looked closer at the scene. The girl was pacing back and forth in front of the boy. She looked angry and... sad. "Oh my spirits, she loves him, too."

Agni blinked. "How can you tell?"

"See how she's pacing? She's not yelling at him or trying to hurt him or anything. If what you say is true, he's been following them for a long time, but she's not even mad at him for it! She's upset that she has to hurt him in order to protect her friend. See, look!" Yue pointed as Katara looked at Zuko, sad, then quickly jerked her head away, scowling.

"She's angry at him," Agni said.

"No, she's angry at herself for loving him. She wishes he could be somebody different so she didn't have to feel guilty for loving him. You can see it in her eyes."

Agni chuckled. "Ten to one they'll get married soon," he said, "They'll be exchanging the Breath of Life before you know it."

Yue scowled at him. "Nonsense," she said, "She's Water Tribe. She won't settle for anything less than a betrothal necklace and a _proper_ ceremony."

Agni chuckled. "Oh, please. He's a prince. So in order to become his princess, _she _has to go through _his country's_ rites of passage to be his bride."

Yue's tone sharpened. "Well, she's the princess of the Southern Water Tribe. So _she_ has just as much of a right to pull rank as _he_ does." Her face turned smug. "And besides, he's banished. And if he keeps letting her win, that's how he'll stay. So _she_ gets to decide."

Agni chuckled. "Don't be so sure," he said, pointing toward the picture.

The ice encasing the prince had melted, seemingly under extrene heat, and the prince was walking soundlessly toward the girl, whose back was turned. She must not have heard the ice melt. The boy raised a fist, but seemed to hesitate ever so slightly before hitting her on the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. The prince caught her as she fell, holding her tight against him, and, after a moment, leaned her against a pillar and tied her up. He then walked over to the oasis pool and grabbed the glowing boy by the shirt, slinging him over his shoulder just as the sun broke over the horizon. With one last glance at the unconscious water-bender, he turned and walked away.

"No!" Yue shouted, pounding her fist against the glass-like floor. "No! No! No! This is all wrong! He's not supposed to get the Avatar!"

Agni smiled bemusedly. "On the bright side, when Zuko gives the Avatar to his father, the order to have him banished will be revoked. He'll be the Crown Prince in more than just name again. And he can marry the water-bending girl... My way."

Yue scowled at him.

And then she collapsed.

* * *

**Okay, First Off, I'd Like To Say Thank You To setlib For The 'Breath Of Life' Thing From Their Story 'A Marriage Of Convienience'. It Was The Only Thing I Could Find About A Fire Nation Wedding Ceremony, So Thank You.**

**Second: I Do Not Own ATLA, Nor Ever Will I.**

**Third: How Do You Like It? R&R! I'll Try To Update Soon!**


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